w1L4a- 
     
     youngster, I used to watch those get-togethers and marvel at the abillty 
     
     of a group of ladies to carry on an uninterrupted flow of conversation 
     
     throughout an evening, without a break in the rhythm:of.the’ flying needlés. 
     
    

    
     The yarn from which those knitted articles were produced was spun at 
     
     home from the rolls processed by the carding mill from the freshly+shorn 
     
     fleeces. Hy mother Spent numberless winter evenings, to the hum of the big 
     
     spinning wheel, stretching and twisting the’ rolls: to.the proper diameter 
     
     and winding them on the spindle. Later, she used a small conventional 
     
     type wheel, a gift from Mrs. Ambrose Collins, when the Collins family sold 
     
     out and moved to Connecticut. This wheel, which is now in my brother 
     
     “Frank's home, was originally the property of Mrs. Collins! grandmother, and 
     
     had been brought from Ireland by one of the early immigrants. At a 
     
     eonservative estimate 1t 18 now upwards of three hundred years old, and is 
     
     =n item of eager interest to various antique dealers. 
     
    

    
     There were still a few of the old-fashioned hand-operated looms in 
     
     operation during the early 3900's. Mary Ann and Julie Cameron, close 
     
     friends of our family, and descendants of one of the pionver settlers, 
     
    

    
     did weaving on a loom in their home on the Cameron Road. At the same time, 
     
     a loom was used by my Aunt Magele in Grandfather McGuigan's home at Kelly's 
     
     Cross. Both looms produced a fabric which, after processing, was used for 
     
     blankets and heavy clothing. As youngsters, we were intrigued by the 
     
    
   
   
    
     shuttle flyin; back and forth in time with the thump of the device that 
     
    
   
   
    
     packed the strands together. 
     
    
   
   
    
     sided edible ed Sosilb ° 
     
     KBRREANREAN ONE